Graveyard Shark

Director - Matthew A. Peters (Big Brood, Axegrinder 666)

Starring - Stephanie Ward (Stranded, Radiant Dark), Michael John Gilbert (The Man with No Pants, Barely Coping), and Berndele March (Slade Collins and the Tree of Life, Romeo 3000)

Release Date - 2024

Genre - Horror/Comedy

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've been a fan of indie horror for as long as I can remember.  This deep seeded love started with Evil Dead II and spiraled out from there.  I love horror, regardless of the budget, sub-genre, nationality, and so on, but the creativity found in indie horror flicks is unmatched.  Over the years I've crossed paths with some wild flicks that I knew I had to see and several of them spun in my head for days until I could write about them.  One of those films is the 2024 horror comedy Graveyard Shark from director Matthew A. Peters.  I snagged the blu from Makeflix sometime ago and forgot all about it until I came across my copy while sorting my review stack.  I immediately tossed it in to check out.

     The film follows a paranormal/cryptid investigator who visits a graveyard where several people were ravaged by a shark.  She soon learns that the stories are true and a local fisherman, who claims to have fucked a mermaid, is responsible for the beast's bloody rampage after killing his mother when asked for child support.  

     I went into this one expecting a lot of cheese and was a bit surprised by the film itself.  The title made me think I was getting a Chris Seaver style flick with a campy creature and a lot of shark themed puns.  Sadly, the film struggled with it's own identity.  The acting in this one is pretty solid and consistent.  The characters are not that memorable, with the exception of a few, but the cast does a great job with their roles.  Everyone really dedicated themselves to their roles which made the scenes go by so much better.  The story for this one has so much potential but struggles with it's own self-identity.  The film has the perfect premise for horror flick overflowing with humor.  Instead, the film flows like a serious slasher with the killer being a shark...in a graveyard.  Aside from the creature's backstory, the film doesn't really embrace the comedic side.  The serious tone it takes feels out of place.  Honestly, the film would have been so much more fun if it followed the tone we see during the fisherman's tale of what the shark is.  Finally, the film has a lot of fun practical effects that fit the film.  I liked the look of the creature and the way the deaths flowed like a slasher but the kills are not that memorable.  Overall, Graveyard Shark has a few enjoyable moments but wasn't for me.  The movie flirted with comedy but never crossed the line which made a few scenes really stand out.  I wanted to like it but it wasn't for me.